Sigiriya

Sigiriya is one of the three ancient capitals of Sri Lanka in the northern cultural triangle. This palace was built in 477 by King Kashyapa after he usurped the throne and drove his brother away to India. Fearing his brother’s return, he built a rock fortress and surrounding city away from the old capital. After King Kashyapa was overthrown in 495, the fortress became a monastery, which is perhaps more practical for a palace built on a towering rock.

The gardens are some of the oldest landscaped gardens in the world. There are water gardens with fountains that are fed from reservoirs at the top of the palace, rock gardens, and terraced gardens. From above, the structure of these gardens is evident, stretching out through the surrounding countryside. The path to the top leads at first up steps, then passes by a set of frescos of lovely ladies. Earlier writings refer to almost 500 of these women, of whom a dozen or so remain. Just past these frescos is the Mirror Wall, a highly polished white plaster surface that has fallen prey to over 1000 years of graffiti. The final ascent is guarded by a lion, the path crossing between his paws. Much of the lion’s head has fallen, but the paws remain in place.

While no humans live at the site now, it is known for housing a number of wasp and hornet nests. The ascent is marked with signs advising you to be quiet, and to stay still if the wasps attack. There is even a metal box in which you can hide from angry insects. This prompted our new favorite saying, “Have fun, and don’t worry about the hornets!"